Sanitation system



D United States Patent 11113,539,012

[72] Inventor Howard F. MacNeil [56] References Cited 2354 Touhy Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60645 UNITED STATES PATENTS APPl- 7131226 2 765,923 10/1956 Novak 2l0/499X [221 FM Mmh1411968 3,217,889 11/1965 Berg..... 210/499x I451 Paemed 1970 3,224,586 12/]965 Wade 210/282 Primary Examiner-J. L. DeCesare [54] SANITATION SYSTEM Attorney-l-lill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross and Simpson 3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

210/499 ABSTRACT: Sanitation system employing a disposable, flexi- [Sl] Int. Cl B0ld 29/04, ble bag partitioned by means of a foraminous filter member. BOld 39/08 with an inlet in said bag on one side of the filter member and [50] Field of Search 210/238. an outlet on the other side to provide for the separation of solids and the recirculation of a filtrate for flushing purposes.

Patented Nov. 10, 1970 3,539,012

SANITATION SYSTEM BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION or camp sites, or the like.

It hasheretofore'been thepractice on smallerboat's particularly, to discharge waste products directly 'into the water course. With the increasing emphasis on pollution control, however, this type of disposal system is unsatisfactory.

The "present invention provides a sanitation assembly which is completely self contained and does not require any connection outside of the hull of 'the boat for flushing water intake or for exhausting. The'unit is completely portable so that it can be stored on a bulkhead, in a closet, or otherwise supported without difficulty.

SU'MMARYOF THE INVENTION The apparatus of the present'invention'may be used inconnection with'amar'ine head .or the like. Thedischarge from the head is introduced by means of -a=suitable :conduit into a disposable inner bag of the assembly, preferably consisting of a pair, of panels of heat scalable vinyl resin,heat sealed along their marginal edges. Confined between the two panels is a foraminous filter member which .is locked in place by heat sealingits edges to the marginal edgeso'f the two panels. An inlet in the'top or the bag introduces the discharge from the head into a disposable bag, and a discharge tube isprovided ontheopposite'panel-in spacedrela'tiontothe inlet so that the liquid must flow through the screen in passing from the inlet to the discharge. In accordance with'animproved form of the present invcntiom the medial portion of the two ptmels is also heat sealed togethcrfthereby providinga restrictedflow path for th e materials, and eliminating a direct path fromthe inlet to the discharge. The constriction thus provided channels the flow down one side of the bag, across the bottom, and up the other side to the discharge end. I

Initially, a small amount of water is introduced into the bag, together with sufficient.- chemical treating agents to treat a predetermined number "of cycles. After :the predetermined number of cycles *has occurre'ththe disposable bag can be removed, sealed, anddeliveredto-the-dock for disposal by a suitable means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONROF THE'DRAWINGS bag after a clamp has'been applied to seal the interior of the bag for disposal; and I FIG.7 is a'view takenalo'ng' the line VII-VII of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. l,reference numeral l indicatesgenerally a toilet assembly which is fastened to a deck .llof the boat. The discharge of the assembly I0 passes by means of a conduit 12 through a suitable pump into'an inlet tube 13 of the improved for maritime use but could also be used forstora'ge-in trailers.

sanitation assembly generally indicated at reference numeral discharge effluent and reintroduce it into the assembly for flushing purposes on the next cycle of operation.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the outer receptacle of the assembly may consist of an enclosure 19 composed of a flexible material such as a heavy gauge plastic. A plurality of straps 20 and 21 extend across the back of the enclosure 19 to permit the entire assembly to be mounted on hooks on the bulkhead or to accommodate a pair of rods which in turn can be detachably secured to the bulkhead or a closet or the like.

As best illustrated in FIG. 3, portions of the bottom of the enclosure 19 are folded over to provide flaps 22 and 23 which are securedto the remainder of the container by means of rows of stitching 24 and 25. This type of construction a heat sealed seam 33 at one lateral edge of the bag, a heat sealed bottom seam 34 and a heat sealed seam 35 at the other lateral edge. The top edges are also sealed as indicated by a seal 36. Immediately below the top edge seam 36, there is provided a rectangular heat sealed area 37 in which a pair of slots 38 and 39 are formed to serveas handles for lifting the disposable bag and carrying it to a disposal site.

The panels 31 and 32 are cut away as indicated in FIG., 4 to form tabs 40 and 41 adjacent the upper corners of the disposable bag assembly. Heat sealed seams 42 and 43, respectively, separate the tabs 40 and. 41 from the remainder of the bag.

The front panel32 is provided with a slot 44 for receiving the inlet tube 13 and the back panel 31 is provided with a slot 45 for accommodating the discharge tube 15. The tab 41 has been bent forward in the-showing of H04 to illustrate the structure more clearly. I

Confined between'the panels 31 and 32 is a foraminous filter member such as a screen 46 preferably consisting of a heat sealable'thermoplastic screening material such as nylon. The mesh size of thescreen may be of the type employed for window screening, for example. The marginal edges of the screen 46 are confined in heat sealed relation within the seams ,33, 34, 35 and 36, as best illustrated in FIG. 5 of the drawings.

A medial heat sealed strip 47 is also provided to channel the bottom and then up to the discharge site which consists of the tubelS extending into the slot 45. Since the slot 44 and the slot 45 are on opposite sides of the screen 46, the liquid must pass through the screen 46 in flowing from the inlet end tothe discharge end of the bag.

Initially, a relatively small amount of water is introduced into the interior of the bag, together with enough chemical treating agents to accomplish, for example, 40cycles of operation. The chemical treating agents are commercially available materials and their exact composition does not form any part of the present invention. Generally, they are ferric hydroxides, lime, alum or the like. I

With each cycle, the amount of liquid effluent discharged through the discharge tube 15 increases, and this effluent is recirculated back into the head for flushing purposes by the pump 18. After the predetermined number of cycles of operation, for example, forty, the solids retained by the screen have built up sufficiently so that the bag can be disposed of in its entirety. Then, the inlet tube 13 and the discharge tube 15 are withdrawn from the slots 44 and 45, respectively, and the tabs 40 and 41 are folded over as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, whereupon a clamp 51 is placed over the thus sealed ends. The clamp 51 includes a strip 52 and a strip 53 pivotally secured together by means of a pin 54. The strip 53 has a downwardly extending flange portion 55 which embraces the strip 52 tightly and serves to clamp the folded over portions of the tab 40 into sealed engagement. The sealed inner bag can then be taken to a dock and disposed of in any convenient manner.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that the present invention provides a readily disposable sanitation apparatus for maritime use or the like. The apparatus is completely portable and can be attached at any suitable location. The disposable bag can be made quite economically with conventional materials.

It will be evident that various modifications can be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope ofthe present invention.

lclaim: y

l. A sanitation assembly comprising an outer enclosure, a flexible inner bag removably received within said enclosure. said inner bag having. a front wall and a rear wall sealed together along their marginal edges, said inner bag having an inlet portion including a slot in said front wall for receiving an inlet conduit, an outlet portion including a slot in said rear wall for receiving a discharge conduit, a foraminous filter element sealed at said marginal edges to said front and rear walls and extending completely across the enclosure provided by said front and rear walls.

2. The assembly ofclaim l in which said slots are located in tabs disposed at the upper corners of said bag, said tabs being foldable relative to the remainder of said bag to permit clamping said tabs against the walls of said inner bag.

3. The assembly of claim 1 in which said front wall and said rear wall are sealed together in the medial portion of the inner bug to provide a confined flow path paralleling the edges of said bag for material introduced into said inlet portion and flowing to said outlet portion. 

